Kathleen Parker, syndicated columnist.

Suppose you walked out to pick up your copy of the newspaper and found there a basket containing $10 million! You decide to drive to work and tell your boss that you're retiring. On the way, you stop for gas. A sign on the door reads: "Just got $10,000,000 - Closed." Same at the coffee shop. Same at your office. If everyone has the same income - whether it comes in a paycheck or a basket - the system just won't work. We need inequality to motivate us to keep up with the Joneses in one way or another.

Remember that the old USSR built walls to keep people using a system where everyone was equal.